And It All Comes Crashing Down
by CMDR Quillon
Summary: Two worlds collide in this blend of magic and adventure. When Eragon, Arya, Nasuada, Murtagh, Saphira, Thorn, and Firnen get dumped in late-twentieth-century London, England, and meet wizards from this world, what will happen? Heavily in progress. Reviews welcome.
1. Prefix

**YOU ARE READING BOOK 1. THERE ARE UPWARDS OF 7 BOOKS PLANNED, WHICH WILL ALL BE PUBLISHED HERE. **


	2. It Begins (The Boy Who Lived)

YOU ARE READING BOOK 1.

* * *

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except my OC's and the idea.**

* * *

AN: I am following the canon as close as I can while adding nine extra main characters. Please note this book will not feature Saphira, Thorn, or Firnen, although you will see them in this series. This is the incomplete book, and as such is still being written. If you would like to read all of this book at once, then simply check back in about once a month to see where it's at. This starting part is supposed to mimic the start of Philosopher's Stone as closely as possible. Don't like? Don't read. The easiest way to motivate me to keep writing is to review. I am also going to struggle to find time to update, so review and I'll do my best. Anyway, look at me still talking when there's reading to be done. Off you go, have fun in the book!

* * *

** The Boy Who Lived.**

Harry was awoken that morning by Aunt Petunia hammering on the door of his cupboard.

"Up! Get up!" She unlocked his door "Now!". He sat up, put on his glasses, and sighed. He'd been having such a good dream. It had a flying motorbike in it. At that moment, he heard what sounded like a small elephant on the stairs. Dudley was awake. He opened the door of his cupboard and began to get out, when Dudley ran past him, pushed him back into it and slammed the door. He crawled back over, pushed his door open, checked the coast was clear and climbed out. He pushed it shut behind him and walked into the kitchen. Aunt Petunia glared at him.

"How about you cook the bacon and _try not to burn anything_! I want everything perfect on my Dudder's special day." Harry walked over to the countertop and started to fry it, as Dudley counted his presents. Then Uncle Vernon, who until now had been silent, snapped "Hurry up! Bring me my coffee, boy!"

"Yes, Uncle Vernon," he said, wondering sadly if he'd ever be spoken to as an equal. He brought the pan of bacon over and put two slices on each of their plates. He then went and got the coffee Uncle Vernon had demanded and put it in front of him. He finally sat down, feeling depressed as usual. At that moment Dudley finished counting his presents. "Thirty-six. That's two less than last year!"

Aunt Petunia interjected quickly "Look, you haven't counted this one here, under this big one from Mummy and Daddy!"

"Alright, thirty-seven then."

Harry, who could see a huge Dudley tantrum coming on, started wolfing down his bacon in case Dudley turned the table over. Aunt Petunia obviously scented danger too, because she quickly said "And what we're going to do, dear, is we're going to buy you two _new_ presents while we're out today. So that's two _new_ presents!"

"So I'll have… I'll have..."

"Thirty-nine, sweetums."

"Alright then" Dudley sat down heavily and began to eat. At that moment the phone rang. Aunt Petunia answered it, and a minute later came back into the room, looking grim. She said "Bad news, Vernon. Mrs Figg's broken her leg. She can't take him." She jerked her head at Harry. "So we'll have to take him."

Dudley started to cry. Well, he wasn't really crying. It had been several years since he'd cried, but he knew that if he screwed his face up and wailed, Aunt Petunia would do whatever he wanted.

"Oh no, Dudders, don't cry, mummy won't let him spoil your special day!" cried Aunt Petunia, rushing over to him.  
"I d-d-don't w-w-w-want h-him t-t-to come!" wailed Dudley, and he shot Harry a nasty grin through Aunt Petunia's arm.

Uncle Vernon said, "We could take him with us..."

Aunt Petunia replied, "And leave him in the car..."

"That car's new, he's not sitting in it alone."

"You could just leave me here," remarked Harry hopefully. He might even be able to have a go on Dudley's computer.

"And come back and find the house destroyed?"

"I won't blow up the house." But nobody was listening, for at that moment the doorbell rang.

"Oh, good heavens, they're here!" cried Aunt Petunia hysterically, wringing her hands, and a second later Piers Polkiss and his parents walked into the room. Dudley stopped pretending to fake cry at once.

Harry couldn't believe his luck when thirty-seven minutes later, he found himself in the back of the car. It didn't last.

He opened his eyes in his cupboard several days later, sighing. It had been such a good dream. There had been wizards in it. At that moment Uncle Vernon unlocked his door and snarled "I warned you! We've decided to let you out early though, now get the post."

Harry got up slowly, and went and got the post. He picked up the letters lying on the doormat. There was a postcard, what appeared to be a bill, and a _letter for Harry_. His heart racing, he began to open it. The noise of ripping paper attracted Uncle Vernon, and he came into the hall. When he saw what Harry was doing, he ripped the letter out of his hands and snarled "Don't you read my mail, _boy_."

"But it's mine!"

"Yours? Who'd be writing to..." Uncle Vernon had turned the letter over, exposing the seal. His face went from red to green faster than a set of traffic lights, but it didn't stop there. It continued going all the way to the off-white of gone-off milk. He staggered back into the kitchen and croaked "Petunia… Read this."

"What is… Vernon. Oh my god, Vernon!"

They both turned to look at Harry.

Several days later, after multiple failed attempts to get his letter, and after being moved and having the address changed as he moved, he found himself in the car, as it rained, by the top of a cliff. Uncle Vernon had left and locked them all in the car. Just as Dudley started complaining about television, he came back, holding a carrier bag, and a long thin package, with another person by his side. "Get out!" he roared at them over the wind. He seemed to be in a very good mood. "There is a house this man owns out on that rock, and he's kindly agreed to lend us his boat."

Harry looked out of the window over the sea, and saw a small rock, with a run-down old lean-to on it. It definitely didn't have a television. Uncle Vernon then lead them down a small, slippery cliff path to the shingly inlet where a single rowing boat was tied. "Storm forecast tonight," he commented cheerfully. He clearly thought no-one stood a chance of reaching them out on this rock during a storm to deliver post. Harry privately agreed, although the thought didn't make him feel the same way. The boat was freezing, and great sprays kept washing over the bow as Uncle Vernon rowed. They slipped and slid their way into the shack, which only had two rooms, and Uncle Vernon stumped over to the fireplace and tried to start a fire with the crisp packets from lunch, but they just smoked and smelled terrible; Dudley snivelled, likely miserable he'd had no food, and Harry felt pangs too. "Could do with some of those letters now, eh?" Uncle Vernon was still very cheerful: the fact they could not start a fire did not affect him whatsoever.

Harry sighed, and Dudley muttered "I'll smash your head in for this, Harry. Why'd you have to go and get that letter, huh?"

Uncle Vernon stood up, giving up the fire as a bad job, and said "Alright, no use in making ourselves miserable. Bed, everyone." Him and Aunt Petunia went off to the lumpy bed in the other room, Dudley was made up a bed on the mouldy sofa, and Harry was left to find the most comfortable bit of floor and curl up under the smallest, thinnest, most ragged blanket. He looked at Dudley's watch. He'd be eleven in ten minutes time. Five minutes to go. Maybe he'd wake Dudley up, just to annoy him. Four minutes. What was that odd booming noise? Was the sea smashing the rocks apart? Three minutes. What was that odd crunching noise? Was the rock crumbling into the sea? Two minutes. That lightning had illuminated something outside. Was a sea monster about to eat them? One minute to go. What was that slapping noise outside? Was a seal trying to get out of the rain? Ten seconds. Nine. Eight. Seven. Harry sat up, ready to poke Dudley. Three. Two. One. BOOM. The entire shack shook. BOOM. Dudley sat up quickly. BOOM. Uncle Vernon came skidding into the room, a shotgun in his hands. Now they knew what had been in that long, thin package of his. BOOM. Uncle Vernon yelled "Who's there? I'm warning you - I'm armed!" CRASH. The hinges were ripped from the door, which fell flat on the ground. A large figure bent almost double and came in, and the light of the one oil lamp in the hut illuminated his shaggy, beard-covered face.

"Sorry 'bout that," he said, turning around and pushing the door back into the frame. The storm outside got marginally quieter. "Couldn' make me a cuppa tea, could yeh? No' been an easy trip. An' here's Harry!" He looked at Harry, who saw underneath all that beard beetle black eyes crinkled in a smile. Uncle Vernon was having none of it. "Sir, I must demand you leave _at once_! You are breaking and entering-" The shaggy-haired giant turned. "Dry up Dursley, yeh great prune." He bent the muzzle of the gun ninety degrees up, and at that precise moment, Uncle Vernon fired it, blasting two great holes in the ceiling. The giant turned back to Harry and then sat down heavily on the moth-eaten sofa, which buckled under his weight. He pulled a flowery pink umbrella from his belt and pointed it into the fireplace. Two great fireballs shot out of the end and the fire blazed merrily to life. Harry didn't remember much of the next two hours, it was all a blur, but he clearly remembered 'the pigtail incident', as it would become known to him and his friends.

The next morning Harry refused to open his eyes. _It was all a dream _he told himself firmly. _I dreamed a giant of a man came to get me away from this, and when I wake up I'll be back in my cupboard._ "Wake up, Harry!" He opened his eyes, hardly daring to believe it. Hagrid smiled at him and said, "We really mus' ge' movin' though, we've go' a lot to buy."

* * *

Footnote: Sorry for the fact that you may have been mislead, but I promise, what is in the summary is coming. I'm writing it as I write this. Promise. Keep it strong team, the next chapter is due to be posted in the next couple of hours.


	3. The Meeting

YOU ARE READING BOOK 1

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except my OC's and the idea.**

* * *

**AN**: Sorry for how late it is, but here's the promised Chapter Two. Here we go boys. One of you very truthfully pointed out the last chapter was basically part of the book rewritten, so I've... compressed... it a little, to save on time. Hope it's still good all the same. Now we're going in at the deep end.

* * *

Hagrid smiled at him and said, "We really mus' ge' movin' though, we've go' a lot to buy." Harry jumped to his feet. "It wasn't all a dream? I- I- mean... You're actually real?"

"Well, I was perfec'ly real las' time I checked. Also, happy birthday again Harry. Come on then." Hagrid turned and stooped out through the door. He turned, and looked back through at Harry, who was frozen with shock, waves of happiness coursing through him and making his heart race. "Unless you'd rather stay, o'course?" That shook Harry from his stupor. He grabbed his rather too small jacket from the floor, where he'd been using it as a pillow, and followed Hagrid out of the door.

The storm appeared to have blown itself out. The sun had come out and the sea was a beautiful blue colour. It felt like the Mediterranean. At least, Harry thought it did. He'd never been to the Med, but he had seen pictures on postcards. The sea always seemed blue. Hagrid brought him back to earth by saying "Well, strictly speaking, I'm not supposed to use magic now I've got yeh, but it seems such a shame to row. Would you mind if I... sped things up a little?" Harry, eager to see more magic, agreed, and before long they were speeding towards the mainland far faster than anyone could row, while Hagrid sat there reading a newspaper called _the Daily Prophet. _Harry had learned the hard way that people liked to be left alone when doing this, but his mind was full of a jumble of questions.

Hagrid turned the page just as they reached the shore, the boat bumping gently against the shingles. Hagrid lead Harry up a small, concreted path he had not noticed the previous night, and out onto the headland. Before long they were on a train racing east, out of this coastal city in Wales called Swansea, and back towards London. As the train rolled into London Hagrid put away what he'd been knitting, (somewhere between a giant yellow balaclava and a sheepskin), and they got off the train. Harry asked "You said yesterday you were going to give me my letter. Where is it?"

"Oh, yeh, that reminds me." Hagrid rummaged in his pocket and pulled out a letter. It was addressed to Harry, and he opened it at a nod from Hagrid. He began to read. Puzzled, he looked up. "Can you get all this in London?"

"If yeh know where to go."

Several hours later Harry was aboard a train racing back towards Surrey. Hagrid had given him a ticket before he left, but Harry was pretty sure there was no platform nine and three quarters at King's Cross. His snowy owl, Hedwig, hooted serenely in the luggage rack at the end of the carriage. He hadn't wanted to leave her, but the guard had refused to let him put her on the seat, even going so far as to tell Harry he would be removed from the train if he did so.

The next two weeks were agony. Not only did Harry now have to wait until September 1st to go to a place where Dudley would never be able to bully him again (a lot of Dudley's friends were going to Stonewall Comprehensive, the secondary school Harry was going to be sent to) but also he had to deal with the Dursleys treating him as though he didn't exist. While this was a great improvement, it did start to get boring after a while. The night before Harry's train left for Hogwarts, he came downstairs, thinking he should probably ask Uncle Vernon to give him a lift to the train station. He didn't fancy walking for fourteen and a bit hours just to get on a train from a platform that didn't exist. Twenty-nine miles wasn't much, when you didn't have to haul heavy luggage with you, but when you did it could take upwards of fifteen hours. Harry walked into the living room. Instantly Dudley sprang to his feet and waddled out as fast as his short legs would let him, his hands firmly clamped over his bottom, but failing to conceal that telltale lump that meant the tail was still there.

Harry walked up to Uncle Vernon's armchair. He wasn't sure how to ask this. "Uhhh... Uncle Vernon, would it... uh... be alright if you give me a lift to London King's Cross tomorrow? Only... I've got to catch my train. You know, to that school."

Uncle Vernon grunted. Harry could only assume it was a yes.

"Uhm... Thank you."

Grunt. Harry turned to leave when Uncle Vernon spoke up again. "Seems a funny way to get to a wizard school, the train. Magic carpets all got punctures?" He laughed at his own joke for a couple of seconds, but stopped when no-one joined in. "Fine, we'll take you. We're going up to London anyway, or I wouldn't bother."

"Why?"

"Dudley's got to have that ruddy tail removed before he goes to Smeltings."

The next day Uncle Vernon loaded all Harry's luggage into the car, coerced Dudley into sitting next to him and they were off. When they arrived at London, he even helped Harry load all his luggage onto a trolley and wheel it to the platforms. Harry just thought this was Uncle Vernon being nice, until he turned and smiled at Harry "There isn't any train marked "Hogwarts Express" here, is there. Have a good term." With a nasty smile he turned, and found four people standing there in odd dress who hadn't been there a second before. Harry watched Uncle Vernon go pale. However, these people seemed to be just as confused as they were. There were two men and two women, and one man and woman had pointed ears. The man with the pointy ears looked directly at Harry and asked "Where are we?"

* * *

Postscript: Getting back into the flow a bit. Should have the next chapter posted hopefully by the end of the week. Review review review. :) Also, to the guest who asked me to make good on the promise of several books, I will, but I'll need y'all to make a choice in the reviews section. Post books 2-7* seperately or in this book? To the other guest too, who asked me to pair Harry and Murtagh, I have something... different... in mind. **Buuuut, spoilers. I've already said too much. **Cheers for reading.


	4. On the Rails

YOU ARE READING BOOK 1.

* * *

AN: Started working on this one immediately after the last one was released, but due to GCSE work and stuff taking most of my free time this book will only be updated occasionally. Should be quite a lot longer than a thousand words now all our protagonists for Book 1 are here. Also, DISCLAIMER: Vernon Dursley is not a very nice man. I highly disagree with every abhorrent thing that comes out of his mouth. What he says throughout this series does not reflect my beliefs, nor the moral of the series, and as such he should be treated as nothing more than a nasty character in a work of fiction. Any similarities to real-world people (I'm looking at you, Karen) are purely coincidental.

* * *

The man with pointy ears looked directly at Harry and asked: "Where are we?"

Harry blinked, surprised that they even spoke the same language. "You really don't know?"

"Clearly not" answered the younger-looking, dark-skinned lady. She carried herself regally, like a queen. "Now, are you going to tell us where we are and how we got here?"

"I can-"

Uncle Vernon seemed to finally have had enough of his adopted son being treated respectfully. His face, which had slowly been changing colour without anyone noticing, finally finished going beet red, and a vein in his temple started to pulse dangerously. He growled, "Look, I don't know who in blue blazes you think you are, but stay away from the boy." He pushed the key on his car keys under the chin of the woman, forcing her head back. "You obviously need mental help. You should be in a psychiatric hospital, not out on the streets terrorising law-abiding citizens like me. Now GET AWAY!" He emphasised that point by jabbing the woman sharply in the stomach with his car keys. He then turned back to Harry. "Good luck." he sneered, and then spun and left.

"Charming." observed the woman. She began to turn away, and at that precise moment, Harry heard-

"Packed with Muggles, of course-". _Muggles_, Harry thought. He began to follow them. He heard a faint cry from the people he'd just left behind, but he was sure they were just having a joke. For charity or something, surely. At that moment the family he was following, all of whom had bright flaming red hair, stopped and the kind-looking short woman who was evidently their mother said: "OK, Fred, you first."

The first red-headed twin said, "I'm not Fred, he is!"

"Oh, alright, sorry George."

"Only kidding, I am Fred!"

The first twin ran straight at the wall, but at that moment he disappeared. Harry blinked and shook his head, but the other twin had followed him through very fast, and Harry didn't see. There was nothing for it. He would have to ask. He walked quickly up to the four remaining, all red-headed family members and said: "Excuse me?"

"Yes, dear?" the mother replied.

"Could you tell me how to - how to-"

"How to get onto the platform?"

"Yes."

"It's really very easy. All you have to do is walk straight at the ticket barrier between platforms nine and ten. Best do it at a bit of a run if you're nervous. First year?"

"Yes."

"It's Ron's first year here too. Go on, you'll be fine. We'll come through after you."

Harry began to walk at the wall. His heart was hammering in his chest. He began to run. Twenty feet... Ten... He couldn't now stop if he wanted to, he'd lost control of the trolley! Five... He closed his eyes, waiting for the crash. It never came. He opened his eyes. He was standing by a pillar, and he could barely breathe all of a sudden. There was so much steam! He turned left, and had just started pushing his trolley towards the train, when all of a sudden a whistle-blast split the air, and a second later the mother and daughter were standing behind him.

"Come on, or you'll miss it." the mother panted, like she'd taken the barrier at a run, and she chivvied him towards the open door. "No, no, I'll take that, you take your trunk and owl and get on. No, really, it's no issue."

"Thank you, Mrs...?"

"Weasley."

"Thanks very much, Mrs Weasley!"

"It's no problem, dear."

Harry nearly had to jump the wide gap between platform and train to get on, but he managed it. He heard a shout as he dragged his trunk across the gap, and Mrs Weasley handed him Hedwig. Thinking nothing of it, he dragged them down the narrow corridor on the left side of the carriage, and upon finding an empty compartment he opened the sliding door with an elbow and slipped inside. He stood on the seat, but still couldn't reach the overhead luggage rack. At that moment the two twins looked in at the door, and one of them said, quite easily "Let me help you with that, mate."

"Thanks." Harry panted gratefully. His arms were shaking from holding his heavy trunk above his head for just a few seconds, and he didn't think he could've got it up there on his own. One of the redheads (Fred, Harry thought) picked his trunk up and easily slid it onto the rack.

"No problem, mate. What's your name, by the way?"

"Oh - Harry. Harry Potter."

"Wha - Are you really? Amazing!" The two twins left the carriage to talk to their mother as she called for them and a second whistle-blast, followed by a third, rent the air. Harry caught slivers of conversation through the open ventilation panes at the top of the window: "Mum, you know that black-haired kid on the train? You know him? He's Harry Potter, mum. Harry Potter!"

"Oh, of course he was. I did wander, with no parents or anything. And he was ever so polite."

At that moment Harry was momentarily distracted by the people he'd seen on the... Muggle? Yes, Muggle. The people he'd seen on the Muggle platforms at King's Cross getting on the train at the same door he'd got on at. He was forced to refocus on the conversation Fred and... George? Yes, George. The conversation Fred and George were having with Mrs Weasley when the small redheaded girl squealed "Can we go and see him, Mum? Please, Mum!"

"No, dear." Mrs Weasley said firmly. "The poor boy's not something you gawk at in a zoo."

"Hey!" said George. "Do you reckon he remembers what You-Know-Who looks like?"

"I forbid you to ask him that" a suddenly stern Mrs Weasley snapped. "No, don't you dare. As if he needs reminding of that on his first day at school!"

"Jesus Christ, alright! I was just saying -"

"Well, don't."

At that moment the guard issued one long, undulating blast on his whistle, and the engine echoed it a second later with its own whistle and began to belch steam.

"Oh good lord, you're going to miss it!" cried Mrs Weasley frantically, and shepherded Fred and George back onto the train as the brakes hissed and the train began to move off with a great scream of metal.

"Goodbye, Ginny!" called one of the twins through the now shut door's window.

"We'll send you loads of stuff!" yelled the second one over the rising noise of the engine.

"We'll send you a Hogwarts toilet seat!" called the first one again.

"George!" Mrs Weasley yelled indignantly.

Half laughing, half crying, Ginny ran alongside the train until it was moving too fast, and then dropped back and waved until they were out of sight. The clack of wheels on rail soon melded with the chuff of the pistons and made a soothing, sleep-inducing melody. Harry leant his head on the window and watched London roll past with increasing speed. The melody, a melody of rubber and lead, combined with the sun on his face, made Harry drowsy, and he was about to fall asleep when there was a knock on the doorframe. Jerking upright, Harry saw the youngest redheaded boy, Ron, standing there and looking sheepish.

"You don't mind, do you?" he asked hopefully "Everywhere else is full."

"Not at all." Harry indicated the other seats, across from him.

"Thanks" said Ron, gratefully. He stood on his seat (_Why hadn't Harry thought of that?_) and shoved his trunk into the rack, before sitting down. He stared at Harry for a few seconds before realising what he was doing and quickly looking out of the window. He then looked back at Harry, as though he was mesmerised, and then clearly decided to say something; "A-Are you Harry Potter?"

Harry, who had leant back against the window and nearly fallen asleep, jerked upright and blinked. "Uh, yeah. Yeah, I am."

"Oh. I thought Fred and George might have been joking, or - or lying, you see."

"Mhm."

"But, uh, do you, uh..." Ron leant forwards, and lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper; "Do you have the scar?"

"Oh, yeah." Harry pushed back his fringe, grinning, to expose the lightning scar etched on his forehead.

"Wicked."

Grinning still wider, Harry let his fringe fall back into place.

"Hey." said Ron, suddenly. "Hey, what house do you reckon you'll be in at Hogwarts?"

"Dunno." responded Harry, the grin leaving his face. "Probably Hufflepuff. I don't know any magic or anything, and I bet I'm the worst in the class."

"You won't be." Ron reassured Harry. "Loads of people come from muggle families and they do alright. It doesn't make any difference if you come from the oldest of wizarding families or have never heard of Hogwarts until you get your letter."

Feeling suddenly better, Harry started to smile again. He wouldn't see the Dursleys for another 10 months if he could help it, and it was hard not to be happy at that. As the train raced northwards Ron and Harry talked about one thing and then another, and Harry found himself quite liking Ron. It was easy to be himself around Ron, and he sensed he'd just made a friend. At that moment the door slid open again, and an old lady pushing a trolley looked in. "Anything from the trolley, dears?"

Ron shook his head wordlessly, holding up some corned beef sandwiches. Harry, however, his pockets bulging with money, was ready to buy all the Mars Bars he could carry. But the lady didn't sell Mars Bars. What she did sell was Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, Pumpkin Pasties, and Chocolate Frogs. Harry, not knowing what to choose, got a little of everything, and paid 1 galleon, 16 sickles and 25 knuts for the lot. He sat back down and spread his haul out on the seats next to him. At that moment there was a knock on the door, and Harry looked up to see the people who had been at King's Cross standing at the entrance to the compartment.

"Can we come in? Everywhere else is full." The dark-skinned lady who said this was still carrying herself just as regally, and Harry found himself thinking that that was how the Queen of England would walk.

"Sure" Ron had beaten him to it, so Harry contented himself with moving all the sweets onto the small table at the bottom of the window, to make space. "Heya, Harry, you don't mind if I share those with you?" Ron looked hopefully at the sweets Harry had just moved. "Not at all, it's not like I can eat all these myself" responded Harry. The people who had been just coming in all found seats and the dark-skinned lady introduced herself as Nasuada. That then lead to a slew of introductions, in which Harry and Ron introduced themselves and so did the man with the beard (Murtagh), the young-looking man (Eragon) and the other lady (Arya). The four newcomers elected to not say much after that point, and from there Ron and Harry bantered for a few minutes before a girl with pale skin, bushy brown hair and rather large front teeth opened the door without even knocking, and said in the bossiest voice imaginable "Excuse me, has anyone seen a toad? A boy called Neville has lost one.

"No, we haven't" said Ron, crossly. "Weren't you ever taught to knock before opening the door?"

"Well, it's only on the train, so I don't see the -"

"What if we'd been discussing private matters?" butted in Eragon, also looking angry.

Hermione, seeming to realise she was in the wrong, slammed the door without apologising. "Good riddance" muttered Ron, before continuing to talk with Harry. At that moment their clothes shimmered and changed into the school ones, but Nasuada, Murtagh, Arya and Eragon's didn't. Then they heard a male voice come over a hidden PA system and say "As you have likely noticed, your clothes just changed. Everything has been moved from your pockets in your old clothes into the corresponding pocket in your robes, and your old clothes have been folded in your trunk where your robes were. We will be arriving in Hogsmeade in about two hours, and please note it will be dark when we arrive." Ron looked somewhat bemused, but also impressed.

"That is cool. I wish Mum could do that to me in the mornings." He muttered, making Harry laugh.

As the train raced on past rugged landscape, the sky continued to darken. The lamps flickered on about 15 minutes after the person made the announcement, and before long they couldn't see anything from the windows. For the next hour and a bit, Ron and Harry discussed what they might do at Hogwarts. Then the announcer came on again, and stated: "We will be arriving in Hogwarts in about 5 minutes time. Please leave your luggage aboard the train, it will be taken to the school separately. First-years must follow Hagrid, the gamekeeper, and will be taken to the lake. All other years, proceed to the other end of the platform and get on the carriages as normal."

Harry's heart started to beat very fast, and before long the train was slowing down. At that moment, the platform started to roll past the windows, and Harry and Ron got up and left the compartment, the others following their lead.

* * *

**2336 words.**

I apologise for this taking so long to write, but I'm quite busy at the moment. I have half-term though, and you'll see chapters from me then unless I am going camping. This was planned to be 10,000 words, but I decided to split arriving at Hogwarts etc. into a different chapter. For now, here all you bookworms go.


	5. To Hogwarts

AN: It's future's week this week so I was able to get this chapter out sooner than anticipated due to lack of homework. Have fun reading it, I hope you enjoy everyone's reactions! Also, I'm mostly going off the books, so if you haven't read the books, do that first then come back to this. There's a lot of context you won't understand otherwise.

Also, it's late at time of writing and posting (01:45 AM) so please cut me some slack on grammar :)

**Edit: Grammar and spelling errors.**

* * *

Harry's heart started to beat very fast, and before long the train was slowing down. At that moment, the platform started to roll past the windows, and Harry and Ron got up and left the compartment, the others following their lead. The train halted, somewhat ponderously, with a scream of tortured metal. As he left the train he saw a monstrous black form at one end of the platform, holding what appeared to be flame and roaring "Firs' years! Firs' years this way!" As Harry and Ron approached, Harry realised that the flame was actually a lantern and the monstrous black form was actually Hagrid, and his trepidation vanished. The lantern shimmered in the steam from the engine and made it hard for Harry to see what was going on, but he thought Hagrid was holding the lantern with his right hand and cupping his left around his mouth. At that moment he spotted Harry.

"Alrigh' Harry?"

Grinning, Harry replied "Yeah!"

His grin faded as Hagrid called "All the firs' years with me? Good. Les' go then! Follow me." Feeling increasingly anxious, Harry followed all the others from the crowd down a narrow, shingly path to a small, pebbly inlet with thirty or so boats in, arranged in a diamond formation. Ron leant in and whispered "I think we get in the boats."

His prediction was confirmed a split second later when Hagrid roared "No more'n four to a boat! Come on now, get in!" They all squeezed into the boats; Harry, Ron, Arya (_how was she only first-year?_), and that bossy girl from the train all getting one, and Eragon, Murtagh and Nasuada sharing with the kid who had lost his toad (_HOW WERE THEY ALL ONLY FIRST-YEAR?_) Hagrid, in a boat all of his own, barked "All in? Right. FORWARDS!" At the last word all the boats began to move in unison, creeping off across the calm water towards the fringe of trees that hid the inlet. Hagrid suddenly boomed "Yeh'll get your first sight of Hogwarts in a moment now, once we get out from underneath these trees!" They continued to drift forwards and people had to duck as the branches whipped overhead. As soon as they left the sheltered inlet the lake picked up a slight swell, causing Hagrid's lantern to drift around like a firefly. Then Harry looked up.

Incredible. It looked incredible. The castle stood there, on the top of a cliff overlooking the lake, all the windows lit up. It seemed to glitter against the dark sky, all the windows flickering slightly, betraying the fact it was lit by fires. (_Didn't they have electricity?_) The boats continued to drift forwards, and Harry realised they were headed for a cave in the cliff. At that moment Hagrid yelled "HEADS" and they were in the cave. There was another pebbly beach here, and all the boats came aground on it. Hagrid jumped out and all the first-years, including Harry, followed suit, and began to climb the long spiral staircase bored out of the rock. After what seemed like an interminable age, they came out into a brightly lit hall. Through a large set of double doors to their left they could see people eating and hear chatter. That was clearly some sort of Great Hall, and was clearly where the feast would happen. They weren't led here, though, but to a small room on the other side of the hall. Hagrid waved them in, apologised for it being so packed ("I wasn' expecting there to be so many of yeh'") and lumbered off to get a Professor McGonagall, whoever he was.

In here, people were standing rather closer together than they would normally. People were just beginning to talk again, albeit in hushed tones, when a number of ghosts came streaming through the wall opposite the door, and out through the _closed_ door. This weirded people out too much to talk. About a minute later, Hagrid returned with Professor McGonagall, who turned out to be a she, not a he. As Professor McGonagall looked severely at them she gave the impression she was very much displeased with the lot of them. She then said, in icy tones "You are shortly going to pass through those doors and be seated. Before you do that, though, you must be Sorted. You will be Sorted by trying the Sorting Hat on in front of the entire school. Whatever it decides will be your house for the next seven years of your life. I therefore must urge all of you to not bear grudges, and leave any prejudices at the door, as if you irritate your house or vice versa you will just have to live with it. Follow me."

They walked out of the small room, and into the main hall. Off to their left there were two massive doors looking out over the grounds, just standing open, and to their right were those large double doors towards which they were now being lead. They walked through the doors, and a wall of noise hit them. They were lead down a central aisle, with long tables to their left and right. and up onto the dais. Standing there, looking very old and battered, sat a brown pointed wizard's hat with a rip in the brim. Professor McGonagall walked up to the stool, which was on the highest part of the dais, turned, and called, very clearly "Abbott, Hannah!" A small, blonde girl with pigtails ran up to the dais and put the hat on. The rip in the brim opened wide, and the Sorting Hat shouted "HUFFLEPUFF!" A storm of clapping broke out from the row of tables on the far left of the hall. Blushing, Hannah Abbott pulled the Hat off and went to sit with her classmates. Professor McGonagall continued reading names and sorting students without Harry knowing or caring until; "Granger, Hermione!" The bossy girl from the train walked forwards, trying and failing to stop herself hyperventilating. She sat down and the Sorting Hat was placed on her head. It took a fair while to decided, but finally "GRYFFINDOR!" was shouted by the hat.

"Oh _no._" was Ron's apt (as always) assessement. And so it continued, until -

"Potter, Harry!"

Whispering broke out from the students as Harry walked forwards ("Harry, did she say?" "Harry _Potter?_" "Did you see his face?" "Did you see his _scar?_") and sat on the stool, his heart racing.

* * *

**1,089 words**

Originally intended to be much longer, but Harry's sorting and subsequent experience on the first night has been moved to its own chapter.

That chapter should be up later today (01:46 AM at time of posting).


	6. The Sorting Continues

AN: Here's yet another chapter! Reviews motivate me to continue, so please, please, PLEASE, review! My school have blocked this site for content "time-wasting" or I'd write in school when I had time to, but as it is I can only write in the evenings. **The Sorting Continues! **Also, bold text **(Like this****)** are the thoughts of the non-current character (e.g. sorting hat talking to Harry), and italics (_Like this_) are the thoughts of the current character (e.g. Harry)

* * *

Whispering broke out from the students as Harry walked forwards ("Harry, did she say?" "Harry _Potter?_" "Did you see his face?" "Did you see his _scar?_") and sat on the stool, his heart racing. He felt sick. As the hat was placed on his head he realised how terrible it would be to not be in the same house as Ron, as he knew Ron and liked him. All of a sudden a voice in his head said "Hmmm... Difficult... Very difficult. Not a bad mind, I see. Lots of courage, too. And a thirst... to prove yourself. Now that's interesting. But where to put you?"

Harry found himself thinking (_Not Slytherin_) very hard in his head; for Ron had told him of the evils of people in Slytherin.

**(Not Slytherin, eh? You could be great, you know. It's all here, in your head. And Slytherin will _help_ you on the way to _greatness_, there's no doubt about that.)**

(_Not Slytherin! Not Slytherin! Not Slytherin!_)

**(Well, if you're sure...)**

(_Not Slytherin! Not Slytherin! Not Slytherin!_)

**(Better be...)** "GRYFFINDOR!" The last word the Hat shouted to the whole hall. There was a moment of stunned silence and then a storm of clapping and cheering nearly took the roof off and sent it crashing into the grounds, such was the volume of merriment. Harry wordlessly handed the Hat back to a now-smiling Professor McGonagall, and took his place at the row of tables she indicated, immediately to the left of the central aisle. Before long it was Ron's turn. He walked up to the stool, looking remarkably small and embarrassed. As soon as the Sorting Hat was placed on his head it roared "GRYIFFINDOR!" and Ron, looking relieved, took off the hat, handed it to Professor McGonagall, and walked down the aisle towards the seat Harry indicated. Ron sat down next to Harry, looking relieved. They looked back, and saw that the people who had been with them on the train weren't there. (_But... They hadn't been sorted, had they?_) Harry dismissed those thoughts a second later, when he heard someone say from his other side, where Ron wasn't: "So, you made it too." Glancing round, Harry saw none other than Arya and the other 3 there. Of all of them, only Nasuada and Eragon looked remotely in the right place, especially as upon closer inspection Harry could see stubble on Murtagh's jawline. They looked more like seventh-years than first-years. Little did Harry know, he would not see them again for a good long while.

* * *

Yes, I know. _**Very**_ short chapter. Just setting the scene for the next one though, and it doesn't feel right to write two different character perspectives in the same chapter. Just... no. The next chapter should be up immediately after this one.


	7. Discovered!

AN:

Dear Readers;

Here's the continuation of Chapter 5.

Hoping you enjoy it,

Quill

* * *

**PERSPECTIVE CHANGE:** **ERAGON**

* * *

Eragon sighed. That had been a most excellent feast, he thought, as he made to rise. Everything was a little odd, although this was clearly a school. He was particularly intrigued about the good looks of all the humans here. This clearly wasn't Alagaësia. As he made to rise, he heard that same voice the Headmaster had addressed them with earlier boom out over the chatter; "Can Mister Bromsson, Mister Morzansson, Miss Nightstalker and Miss Dröttningu please wait behind, I need to discuss tutoring with you."

People looked round for a second, and the nice kid called Harry Potter looked somewhat curiously at him (_Did he suspect? Maybe._) before following the 'prefect' called Percy Weasley from the hall. He tried to reach out to Arya and the others with his mind, to see what might have given them away, and how in hell the headmaster knew their last names, but found all his magic bound. That was especially worrying, as he had been talking mentally to Arya the whole way here, right up until they got out of that big red snake thing the others called a 'train'. He sat back down, deciding he might as well wait in relative comfort, though these were wooden benches, and so not particularly comfortable. As the last pupils filed out of the hall, the Headmaster dismissed all the school faculty except the deputy headmistress, Professor McGonagall. He approached the four of them, with her just behind, looking cautiously curious. The hall stopped feeling quite as friendly. The Headmaster frowned at them, and then spoke, his voice warm but businesslike. "I know you four do not belong on this planet (_What's a planet?_) and I know that you use a type of magic that does not exist on this planet (_WHAT'S A PLANET, DAMNIT?_), but I am just curious as to why you snuck in here."

Eragon spoke "I don't know what that word means."

"What word?"

"Planet."

"It is the name for a world in space. We are on a planet. You come from a planet."

"Ok..."

"Now, will you answer my question?"

"We snuck in here because we needed a warm place to sleep, and this whole world is strange to us."

"I can help with that."

Eragon saw that the Headmaster had stopped frowning, and in fact looked rather wise and friendly. "My name is Albus Dumbledore, and this here is Minerva McGonagall. I am going to offer a place to stay to you, here at the school. You can sit in on any lessons you like, but I would recommend you leave off it for a little while. You will be free to roam the school and the grounds by day, with the exception of the 3rd floor corridor on the right hand side. In exchange, I want to meet with you, sometimes all together, and sometimes individually, to work out how you ended up here, how your magic works, and maybe, just _maybe_, how to send you back."

"Thank you." This time it was Arya who spoke, and she was looking down, as if embarrassed. Eragon knew why perfectly well. She and all the Elves considered knowledge the greatest gift that could be granted, and therefore this school would be of great importance to her. She would consider the person who ran it a fount of wisdom, and incredibly resourceful. The hall seemed to become friendly once more.

Then it was Nasuada's turn: "What will we do for food and clothes, though?"

The Headmaster smiled. "A good question. You will have seats assigned at the faculty tables behind me, at my right hand side. You will eat breakfast there at eight in the morning, or you can have it brought to your rooms. Lunch is at twelve thirty, and dinner is at half past six in the evening. The students have Friday afternoons, Saturdays and Sundays off. Any more questions?"

"No, sir." That was Eragon.

The Headmaster waved aside the formality. "Call me Albus, and I expect to be able to call you Eragon, Arya, Nasuada and Murtagh respectively."

"Actually." Eragon was curious. "I do have one, si - Albus. How did you learn who we were?"

Albus chuckled. "I have my ways. Would you prefer to sleep in separate chambers off one living space, or in separate quarters entirely?"

Murtagh spoke. "We would prefer to sleep in separate chambers with one common room."

Albus nodded. "Minerva, would you show them to the spare rooms below my office?"

Minerva McGonagall acquiesced and once she had showed the four of them to their rooms she left, after telling them they had tonight free, and tomorrow as well. Albus was going to let them settle in before he started to talk to them.

Eragon exhaled. "I thought we were done for." he admitted.

Arya looked up from where she had been riffling through a book picked off the shelves arranged at random on one wall of the room. "It just shows, Eragon, you can't always predict the future."

* * *

Footnote: I apologise for the shortness of this chapter. Hopefully I can make this up to y'all.


	8. An Announcement

I hate to say this, but this story is now on a semi-permanent hiatus due to private issues and demotivation.


End file.
